Mythic+ Introduction for Affliction Warlock

Mythic+ has become a large part of the World of Warcraft endgame, but the
sheer amount of different variables has left many players feeling overwhelmed.
The group composition, weekly affixes, the item level of the group, the
keystone level, and the experience and comfort level of the group are just
several of the factors that will influence how you approach each dungeon. The
purpose of this page is to prepare you for the key differences that set
Mythic+ apart from the typical World of Warcraft endgame experience, including
talents and rotational anomalies that may not be obvious at first glance.

If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you
can read more about it on our dedicated Mythic+ page below.

Affix List

Tier One Affixes

Fortified increases the Health pool of all non-boss enemies
by 20% and damage dealt by 30%.

Tyrannical increases the Health pool of boss enemies by 40%
and their damage dealt by 15%.

Fortified and Tyrannical are two affixes,
one of which is always present on all Mythic+ Keystones, regardless of
level. These affixes shift the focus of dungeons from boss damage to
trash damage depending on the current affix. Affliction Warlocks excel in
both Tyrannical and Fortified environments, providing both high single
target and exceptional cleave.

2.2.

Tier Two Affixes

Raging increases the damage dealt by enemies below 30% by
100% until they die.

Bolstering buffs remaining enemies Health pools and damage
dealt by 20% when an enemy dies nearby. To counter this affix, DPS all mobs down
evenly and focus your casts into high Health mobs if there are any.

Sanguine places a pool of blood on the ground when a mob
is slain. This pool will heal remaining enemies who stay inside the zone and
also damage players.

Bursting forces enemy mobs to detonate when slain,
afflicting the group with a stacking debuff that causes players to suffer 10%
of their max Health in damage every four seconds..

2.3.

Tier Three Affixes

Volcanic spawns volcanic plumes underneath and around
players when in combat with any enemy. When damaged by Volcanic, players suffer
50% of their maximum Health pool in damage. The more enemies you are in combat
with, the more Volcanic that will spawn.

Grievous afflicts players with a stacking DoT when they
fall below 90%.

Quaking will periodically attempt to interrupt casters by
creating a damaging zone around each player. About 3 seconds after the zone
forms, it will deal 20% maximum Health in damage to each player caught in the
zone as well as interrupting any hard casts being finished during the
shockwave.

Explosive will occasionally spawn
Explosive Orbs that need to be targeted and burned down within a
short period of time or they will deal significant damage to the party.

Skittish reduces the amount of threat generated by tanks
throughout the dungeon.

Focus on fitting in Unstable Afflictions when you have a moment to
stand, while using the movement to continually cycle Agony on all
targets.

2.4.

Seasonal Affix

2.4.1.

Season 4: Awakened

Awakened is the seasonal affix for season 4 of Battle for
Azeroth. In each dungeons there will be 4 Black Empire Obelisks in various
points. When interacting with an Obelisk, player will cross into N'Zoth's realm
and will have to face the Obelisk Lieutenant, which will summon additional adds
in aid. After the Lieutenant is defeated a portal will appear allowing the
player to phase
back. While phased out, players will be immune and invisible allowing to navigate
through the instance and skipping parts that would have been otherwise possible
only with a Rogue in the party. Players can also opt to not kill every Lieutenant
before the end of the run, but doing so will materialize the remaining
Lieutenants during the final boss encounter, albeit with no additional
adds.

It is important to have cooldowns for each Lieutenant and to pay attention to
each ability they cast:

On Samh'rek, Beckoner of Chaos, you can use the Imp's Singe Magic to dispel
Cascading Terror if your healer is busy, but make sure to not fear
additional party members in the process.

On Blood of the Corruptor, you can interrupt Mindred Tentacles' Mind Flay cast
with your Felhunter.

Talent Explanations

Most of our explanations are geared towards keystones that challenge the
current item level of your group. If you are doing keystones that are well
below the current power level of the group, you should default to our build
recommended above, as you will likely be able to do pulls much larger than
intended, which skews the talent choices towards AoE and burst focused
choices rather than builds that support sustained damage.

3.1.1.

Tier 1/Level 15

Deathbolt is the default choice for many situations due to the
high damage it provides. Effective on both bosses and trash, Deathbolt's
power as a nuke is really nice to have.

Drain Soul, after the 8.3 buff, is actually a viable alternative,
especially in dungeons. While being only 1.5% behind Deathbolt in pure
single target, it offers execute and superior shard generation as long as there
are targets dying.

3.1.2.

Tier 2/Level 30

Absolute Corruption is the neutral/passive choice for Mythic+ as it
increases your AoE without compromising your single target, its main benefit is freeing
some globals dedicated to Corruption uptime.

Tier 5/Level 75

Demonic Circle can be used creatively in some dungeons, such as to
make certain bosses easier for yourself.

Darkfury can be used to provide more frequent access to AoE stuns.
If you do not find yourself making use of Demonic Circle often in dungeons,
take this talent and provide more crowd control.

Mortal Coil is another option if you need more/better Crowd Control in dungeons,
while also offering a noticeable burst heal on demand.

3.1.6.

Tier 6/Level 90

Haunt is typically our best choice for damage, regardless of the
affixes.

Grimoire of Sacrifice is a small damage increase especially multitarget
and can provide some utility and quality of life, as it grants the player
the ability to interrupt casts from ranged or sacrifice Summon Voidwalker
for an additional defensive cooldown.

3.1.7.

Tier 7/Level 100

Dark Soul: Misery is the preferred choice as it offers both stronger sustained
and incredible burst potential over the course of 30 seconds.
If you expect hard packs and bosses this is the best choice.

Blood of the Enemy (Blood of the Enemy + Blood-Soaked) is an interesting choice in dungeons where you can easily stand
in melee range, in order to activate the major power and benefit from
both increased critical strike chance and critical damage. The
1.5-minute cooldown makes it line up nicely with Affliction cooldowns, outside
of Dark Soul: Misery.

For the choice of Minor, if you need to bolster your AoE damage, consider taking
Purification Protocol (Purification Protocol).

Stat Priority for Affliction Warlock

Pet Choice for Affliction Warlock

The Felhunter is the best choice in terms of single target damage and if you need
interrupt or purge, consider swapping to Imp if you need a dispel.

If you are using Grimoire of Sacrifice we recommend sacrificing the
Felhunter to provide your group with an extra interrupt. If you need an extra
cooldown to survive, you can also sacrifice a Voidwalker before a difficult
boss to gain access to the Shadow Bulwark cooldown.

7.

Changelog

14 Jan. 2020: Updated for Patch 8.3.

18 Jul. 2019: Updated for Season 3 release.

25 Jun. 2019: This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.